INTERVIEW: Puppet Rebellion

WITH Manchester Indie band Puppet Rebellion releasing their third EP 'Life Is In Your Hands' members Danny Moss and James Halliwell took a few minutes before their live launch in the city's Northern Quarter to chat with Quays News entertainment reporter Nathan Smith.

With heartfelt lyrics, upbeat guitar riffs and a pleasantly fresh new sound, Puppet Rebellion’s latest EP is the first to feature new frontman Oliver Davies.

According to his band mates, the new vocals have made a massive difference to the creation of tracks and in particular to the music video of the EP title track ‘Life Is In Your Hands’. In the rather eccentric and visually appealing video, the band are covered in neon paint.

“That was Ollie’s idea, we where thinking, ‘how can we absolutely trash the sound stage?’ We’ll just all throw shit at each other!”

The band also reveal hopes of taking their live performances to bigger and better extremes with the added use of pyrotechnics and lights. When asked if they think they would be asked to return to the studio however, a rather humorously stern reply of: “Probably not to be honest, it took them a couple of days to get it off all the cameras, we got a bit carried away…”

With the vibrant new look to Puppet Rebellion, the sound has also taken a positive change it seems. The EP was produced by Gavin Monaghan, who has also worked with artists such as Paolo Nutini and The Editors.

“In terms of production it was interesting editing, it’s a different sound and a step up from previous EPs. It’s a total collaboration of us all, there isn’t one person who writes the lyrics or the music, we get input from everyone, it’s teamwork. Listening back you can hear it getting bigger and better each time”

Among many of their achievements, Puppet Rebellion tracks have featured on Manchester City Football Club’s ‘Goal of The Month’ videos as well as regularly being played at half time for Manchester United. As any football fan or Mancunian will know, it is rather unconventional for both clubs to be under the same bracket, as fellow Manchester born band Oasis famously refused to play at Old Trafford due to being Manchester City fans.

“They both like us, we’re not going to turn either of them down. They’re both massive clubs and if they want to work with us then we’re happy to do that. We don’t have a particular allegiance to either club, we follow both. We’re a Manchester band so it’s just about getting our music out there. Whether they’re a United or City fan, you can equally enjoy our music.”

Social media has played a large part in the marketing of the indie band as at the time of writing; they have over 40,000 followers on Twitter, over 5,000 likes on Facebook and a large following on Instagram.

“You can’t just ignore it so we pay a lot of attention to it, fans can talk to us and it makes a bit more of a bond. We always try to make them feel really involved. It’s not on when you go see a band and try to talk to them; we’re a sociable bunch. Our gigs are just one big family gathering!”

Speaking about the EP, personal favourites of the band members include ‘Claim To Fame’ which was originally released as a B-side to hit track ‘Watch Me Fall’. However, due to large amount of positive feedback, the track has made its way onto to the new EP, in which the guys say: “It’s a good introduction to our sound”.

With the latest EP being a third, one can wonder if there is a potential debut album in the works or even perhaps a record label signing for the popular indie band. To which they mysteriously give: “That’s a surprise that! You’ll have to keep up with Twitter and Facebook!”

The guys then go on to express a huge amount of independency, as the launch and production of the record have been completely self-sufficient. Puppet Rebellion are currently unsigned by a record label, and reveal scepticism over rushing to do so: “We’re not going to give up any artistic freedom just for the sake of saying that we’re signed”

The guys say that they are in “no rush and under no pressure” to release an album and that the album will come when it is ready and a possible fourth EP may be released before an eventual album.

Bringing our chat to a close, Danny and James give three words to describe the new EP.

“Magical, Sexy, Indie”, a potential name for the fourth EP right there…